The family books of the Ṛgvedasaṁhitā: A general study
Nayana Goswami
The Ṛgvedasaṁhitā is the earliest scripture of the Vedic literature. Maṇḍala and Aṣṭaka are the two arrangements of the Ṛgvedic contents. According to the Maṇḍala division, among the ten maṇḍalas, the maṇḍalas from second to seventh are the most ancient ṛkmantras, which are homogeneous in character. The mantras of these six maṇḍalas, the second to seventh maṇḍalas of the Ṛgvedasaṁhitā are called to be seen or revealed by the mantradraṣṭās or seers of the same family. So, this portion of the whole Ṛgvedasaṁhitā is known as the Family Books or Vaṁśamaṇḍalas or Kulamaṇḍalas. These Vaṁśamaṇḍalas have some interesting and unique characteristics which give us the information about the ancient hymns and ṛṣis of the Vedic literature. This research paper is a general study on the uniformity and significance of the hymns of these Family Books or Vaṁśamaṇḍalas of the Ṛgvedasaṁhitā.